Living with Clay

Living with Clay
By: CHEUNG Ho Jai

‘Clay’ is not familiar to lots of people, but man has used this material since human history. First, there was living in caves, then under bush shelters reinforced with clay and sand for extra strength. With man’s ingenuity, solid walls of earth were made – much stronger and longer lasting. Different building techniques were developed due to differences in geographic, climatic and cultural conditions and this could be traced back over thousands of years, such as the medieval houses in Europe, Great Wall in China …etc.

With our growing ecological conscious, energy crisis and earth living idea, the use of clay for building material is coming back into our modern times. There has been a lot of research conducted on the properties of clay and the results confirmed the amazing qualities of this unique material.

Clay is a replenishable raw material, using only a low amount of energy for production and process without petro-chemicals. Not only is it free of pollutants, the porous nature of unfired clay has outstanding thermal properties making it cool in the summer and warm in the winter; its vapour diffusion properties providing the ability to regulate moisture. It also absorbs odour and is an effective sound barrier. All these natural attributes are the best qualities that one would ask for in our selection of home decoration materials. They answer our needs for ‘Healthy Living’.

CLAY for Healthy Living
Breathability
Clay material is unique in that it can absorb high quantities of water vapour and releases it when the surrounding air becomes too dry, maintaining a comfortable indoor climate. Recent research shows that good internal relative humidity (RH) control benefits the health of the people living inside. Clay materials in our home minimize condensation. Lower RH thereby deters fungal growth such as mildew which is a major health risk associated with allergies. In addition, maintaining lower RH would also help in limiting the growth and proliferation of house dust mites – an asthmatic irritant.

No VOC
The raw material of clay is obtained from nature and requires no chemical process in the manufacturing. While clay releases no pollutants into the air, it is a perfectly clean, inert material for use in our living space.

Cleaner air
Natural clay minerals have the capacity to produce negative charge upon hydration. When the walls breathe, or hydrate slightly with changes in humidity and slowly drying out, negatively charged particles are released in the air attracting the positively-charge pollutants. They clump together and fall to the floor instead of floating in the air.

No Static charge
The production of Negative ions from clay helps to neutralize the electromagnetic effect and to eliminate static charge on walls, helping the walls to stay clean and not attract dust.

Although city-dwellers do not live in houses built with clay and earth, it is now possible to enjoy all the benefits of clay by incorporating Unfired Clay Bricks and Blocks for building walls; Clay Boards for building partitions or as a furring material. For decorative finishes, we can use Clay plaster, made of colour clay; Colour sand with mother of pearl or straw, as a durable and sophisticated finish giving a stunning, soft and long-lasting deco and Clay paint as a replacement of conventional paints.

Education on the benefits of Clay Paint and Clay Plaster to people is an ongoing process but those who’ve tried it never go back to the conventional ways we’re all used to.

CHEUNG Ho Jai- architect turned expert in ecological paint and founder of “Natural Living”, an eco-life-style shop, first Hong Kong company selling genuine ecological paints from Germany. They also sell other natural and healthy products for home & body at their stores in Hong Kong. Checkout their website www.naturalliving.hk